The HOOTENANNY TV Show that was on ABC-TV in 1963 and 1964 is fondly remembered as offering a great mixture of many of the top acts of the Folk Era. For years we've heard that all of the films of that show had been lost or destroyed, but apparently enough have been found to produce this 3-DVD set.

From the Box:

In the pre-Beatlemania days of April 1963, a weekly folk music concert called "Hootenanny" found its way onto the American television airwaves. Originating from various college campuses, the show featured artists that were thriving on the coffee house and college circuit, like Judy Collins, Trini Lopez, Jimmie Rodgers, the Chad Mitchell Trio, the Brothers Four and Bob Gibson.

Hosted by Jack Linkletter (the son of TV legend Art Linkletter), Hootenanny was also a showcase for young comedians, including Bill Cosby and Woody Allen. And Hootenanny, not limiting itself to folk artists, also featured gospel, jazz and country performers, including Clara Ward, the Carter Family, Marion Williams, Herbie Mann, Hoyt Axton, Eddy Arnold, Flatt & Scruggs and Johnny Cash - all usually performing in the folk idiom, or something close to it.

A few young future rock performers also made early appearances on hootenanny. Look for John Phillips, who would later go on to form the Mamas and the Papas, as a member of the Journeymen. Carly Simon performs as one half of the Simon Sisters and Barry McGuire, who would soon have a number one hit with "Eve of Destruction," can be seen with the New Christy Minstrels."

By 1964 the Beatles had arrived in America, essentially ending the folk music craze that had started only a few years before. Hootenanny would soon be replaced by "Shindig!" All of teh videotapes of Hootenanny are lost - most likely erased and recycled during a time when no one imagined folk music would matter again. But fortunately the shows were preserved on kinescopes, films made from a television monitor. These kinescopes of hootenanny form a musical time capsule of the short-lived era in American popular music - between Elvis Presley and the Beatles - when folk music was all the rage.

More than 80 Songs Including:

• Froggie Went A-Courtin'
  
• He Was a Friend of Mine
  
• Midnight Special
  
• C.C. Rider
  
• Cottonfields
  
• Turn Turn Turn
  
• Rocks and Gravel
  
• If I Had A Hammer
  
• Wayfarin' Stranger
  
• Little Boxes
  
• Four Strong Winds
  
• Wimoweh
  
• Ole Blue
  

With Performances by:

• Eddy Arnold
  
• Hoyt Axton
  
• Leon Bibb
  
• Theodore Bikel
  
• The Brothers Four
  
• Bud & Travis
  
• The Carter Family
  
• Johnny Cash
  
• Chad Mitchell Trio
  
• The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem
  
• Clara Ward Gospel Singers
  
• Judy Collins
  
• The Coventry Singers
  
• Dian & The Greenbriar Boys
  
• The Dillards
  
• Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs
  
• Bob Gibson
  
• Ian & Sylvia
  
• Joe & Eddie
  
• The Journeymen
  
• The Limeliters
  
• Trini Lopez
  
• Miriam Makeba
  
• Herbie Mann
  
• The New Christy Minstrels
  
• Richard & Jim
  
• Jimmie Rodgers
  
• The Rooftop Singers
  
• The Serendipity Singers
  
• Mike Settle
  
• The Simon Sisters
  
• The Tarriers
  
• The Travelers Three
  
• Doc Watson
  
• Josh White, Jr.
  
• Beverly White
  
• Marion Williams
  

And Comdey By:

• Woody Allen
  
• Bill Cosby
  
• Vaughn Meader
  
• Louis Nye
  
• Jackie Vernon